Samael Aun Weor (March 6, 1917 – December 24, 1977), born Víctor Manuel Gómez Rodríguez, was an author, lecturer and founder of the Universal Christian Gnostic Movement.[1] His teaching of 'The Doctrine of Synthesis' of all religions in both their esoteric and exoteric aspects[2] has been called neo-Gnostic by the historian of esotericism Arthur Versluis[3] and called by the historian Jean-François Mayer "a science of consciousness or knowledge that may be attained through certain techniques."[4] In his over sixty books and hundreds of held conferences, he describes a teaching called "gnosis", the Greek word for "knowledge", from which is derived the name "Gnosticism".

Victor Manuel Gómez Rodriguez was born in Bogotá, Cundinamarca, Republic of Colombia, son of Manuel Gómez Quijano and Francisca Rodríguez de Gómez. He was baptized in the Roman Catholic Church but later rejected the Church of Rome. His childhood and family life are not well known, except that he had a brother, and his father remarried after a divorce. He was sent to a Roman Catholic Jesuit school but soon quit disillusioned by religion; he was twelve years old at the time.[5] Instead he invested most of his time in the study of metaphysical and esoteric treatises.[6]Arnold Krumm-Heller founded the Iglesia Gnostica (Gnostic Church) in Mexico in 1910 and in Brazil he founded the Fraternidad de Rosacruz Antiqua (Fraternity of the Ancient Rosicrucians), following Randolph's usage. Between the time after world war II and his death in 1949, Krumm-Heller resumed contact with his Latin America students, where he encountered and subsequently mentored Victor Rodriguez who would subsequently take the name Samael Aun Weor.[7] Later in life, as writer, lecturer and Gnostic teacher, he would demonstrate a profound esoteric knowledge of both Eastern and Western classics.[8]

In his autobiographical account, The Three Mountains, Samael Aun Weor stated that because he was born with an awakened consciousness, he was analyzing the previous lives in which he awakened his consciousness before mastering how to walk.[6] At the age of 17, he was asked to lecture at the local Theosophical Chapter, and a year later was admitted into the occult society Fraternitas Rosicruciana Antiqua (F.R.A.).[9] While a student in the F.R.A., Samael Aun Weor methodically studied the entire Rosicrucian library and it was here that he allegedly learned the secret of the "Great Arcanum", or white Sexual Magic – the esoteric key which purportedly underpins all of the world's great religions.[6]

Few details of his life are known between the mid-1930s and 1950. He became a spiritual vagabond of sorts, traveling with neither home nor income. At one point he lived with a tribe of indigenous people in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta in northern Colombia, learning the healing secrets which would later form the foundation of his medical treatise, Occult Medicine and Practical Magic.[10] It was also during these years that he claimed to have had his first experience of the Illuminating Void meeting his "Inner Being" or Atman whose name is "Aun Weor", meaning in Hebrew "Light and Strength."

He was briefly married to Sara Dueños and they had a son named "Imperator". However, in 1946, he met and married the Lady-Adept "Litelantes" (born Arnolda Garro Mora) with whom he lived for 35 years and had four children: Osiris, Isis, Iris, Hypatia. Samael Aun Weor explains that as soon as he met her, this "Lady-Adept" Genie began to instruct him in the Science of Jinnestan or Jinn State also known as Djinn State or Djinnestan, which he claims involved placing the physical body in the fourth dimension.[11] In the NahuatlAztec religion this practice is known as Nahuatlism,[12] and according to Aun Weor is related with hyperspace.[13]

In 1948 he began teaching a small group of students. In 1950, under the name "Aun Weor", he managed to publish The Perfect Matrimony, or The Door to Enter into Initiation with the help of his close disciples.[14] The book, later entitled The Perfect Matrimony, claimed to unveil the secret of sexuality as the cornerstone of the world's great religions.[15] In it he elucidated topics such as sexual transmutation,[16] "white tantra", and esoteric initiation.[17] Writing in such a candid manner regarding sex was met with disdain by the majority of the public at the time. Seen as immoral and pornographic, Aun Weor found himself fleeing angry mobs attempting to silence him through violent means. From March 14 to 19 of 1952 Aun Weor spends five days in jail for "committing the crime of healing the sick".[6][18] The account of his incarceration is recounted in a personal diary he later published as Secret Notes of a Guru.

After March 19, 1952, Aun Weor and some disciples build and live near the Summum Supremum Sanctuarium, an "underground temple" in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta in Columbia. On October 27, 1954, Aun Weor received what is referred to as the "Initiation of Tiphereth", which, according to his doctrine, is the beginning of the incarnation of the Logos or "Glorian" within the soul. He states that in his case the name of his Glorian has always been called "Samael" through the ages. From then on, he would sign his name Samael Aun Weor.[19] Thus he states that this union of Samael (the Logos) with Aun Weor (the human soul) is the Maitreya Buddha Kalki Avatar of the New Age of Aquarius. Upon being asked exactly what such a title meant, he responded:

A messenger or avatar, in the most complete sense of the word, is a courier, a man who delivers a message, a servant or maid of the Great Work. So, the word avatar must not fall into misinterpretations, it must be specified with complete clarity. I am, therefore, a servant or crew member, or messenger who delivers a message. Some time ago I said that I am a cosmic mailman, since I am giving the content of a cosmic letter. Therefore, my beloved brethren, the word avatar must never lead us to arrogance, since it only means nothing other than an emissary, a servant, a crew member who gives a message, an epistle, and that is all. In regard to Buddha Maitreya, we must analyze these two words a little in order not to fall into misinterpretations. The Innermost-Buddha in itself is the real Being, the Innermost of each one of us. Thus, when the Innermost or the real Being of somebody has attained its proper intimate Self-realization, then he is declared a Buddha. However, the term Maitreya is individual and collective; thus, from the individual point of view, it represents a teacher whose name is Maitreya, but from the collective point of view Buddha Maitreya must be understood—in the most complete sense of the word—as any initiate who has managed to Christify himself, and that is all.

Although he would declare himself as the true Kalki Avatar many times throughout his works, he also regularly rejected the worship of his personality:

I, Samael, am not in need of henchmen or followers, but only imitators of my doctrine: Gnosis. I do not follow anyone, nor do I want anyone to follow me. What I want is for each one of you to follow his own Self. I am only a lighthouse in the sea of existence, and I do not need clientele in order to subsist. Since I am against the slavery of souls, I do not want to enslave any soul, nor do I agree with executioners of ideals. Masters exists in abundance, and I am only one of many; thus, those who want to find the Masters will find them inside, within the profundities of their own inner consciousness.

In spite of the victories, the development of the Gnostic Movement was not without dramatic setbacks. At the time of publishing the revised edition of The Perfect Matrimony (1961), the movement had fallen apart. He wrote that "those who did not leave the Gnostic Movement can be counted on the fingers of one hand."[24] However, by the time of his death, Samael Aun Weor had completely re-established the broad international reaches the movement previously held.

Into the 1960s, he continued to write many books on topics, such as HermeticAstrology, Flying Saucers, and the Kabbalah. However, he also wrote sociopolitical works such as the Platform of POSCLA (Partido Socialista Cristiano Latinoamericano, or Latin-American Christian Socialist Party) and The Social Christ.[25] Topics such as the "false" doctrines of wall streetmaterialism, atheism, and particularly Marxism-Leninism are discussed. POSCLA's motto was given as, "All for one and one for all," and its method, the conscious practice of Ahimsa.

In what was to be the last decade of his life, he penned works such as Parsifal Unveiled, which details the esoteric symbolism of the Wagner opera, and Gnostic Anthropology in which he heavily criticizes the theories of Darwin, Haeckel, "and their followers". The books The Great Rebellion, Treatise of Revolutionary Psychology, and The Revolution of the Dialectic provide a ground work for the vast knowledge of esoteric psychology purported to be found rooted in every genuine religion. During this time, he was preparing the highest vehicle of his doctrine, The Pistis Sophia Unveiled,[26] in which he meditated, verse-by-verse, upon the extremely esoteric Gnostic text Pistis Sophia.

Renunciation of Copyrights

Although he never formally received any income from his works - he lived off the charity of his students - at the 1976 International Gnostic Congress Samael Aun Weor he clarified his stance on the copyright of his works by stating:

Now, my dear friends, and forever, I renounce, have renounced and will go on renouncing copyrights. My only wish is that these books be sold at a low price, affordable to the poor, affordable to all the children of God. I wish that even the poorest, most destitue citizen be able to obtain these books with the few pennies he carries in his pocket... Whosoever wants to publish them let him publish, for the benefit of diseased mankind.

— Samael Aun Weor

Prediction of Death

By 1972, Samael Aun Weor referenced that his death and resurrection would be occurring before 1978. In the chapter entitled The Resurrection in his work The Three Mountains (1972), he stated that the eight years of ordeals within the Trial of Job would occur between his 53rd and 61st birthdays. Furthermore, in the same work, it is stated that this ordeal occurs prior to resurrection, and the one going through it is "deprived of everything, even of his own sons, and is afflicted by an impure sickness."[6] By August 1977 he had developed stomach cancer. During this time he continued to speak to both his students and the general public, giving radio and television interviews while touring Mexico. Eventually he was forced to stop, due to debilitating stomach pain. As his condition steadily worsened he would mention to those at his bedside, "Don't cling to my battered body, instead cling to my doctrinal body."[27] Samael Aun Weor died on December 24, 1977. He was survived by his wife and children.

Years before his death, he declared he would adopt the use of a duly prepared ancient Egyptian "mummy" as a vehicle for further work, a vehicle better prepared than his own "physical body". Many of his followers expected him to return publicly shortly after his death. According to his own statements he planned to remain incognito for a certain time so that “the leaven will ferment."[28]

The Doctrine of Synthesis is a term Aun Weor used to describe the teachings he delivered through his books and lectures, because it purportedly elucidates and coherently syncretizes an extensive variety of teachings which study the human condition.[29][30]

Although many of the metaphysical concepts expounded by such authors as Blavatsky, Steiner, and Gurdjieff provide a conceptual foundation in Aun Weor's teachings, he considered these works and movements conceptual preparation for the real unveiling of occultism or gnosis that he taught. His primary goal was not to simply elucidate a myriad of metaphysical concepts, but rather to teach the way to achieve self-realization through the "Direct Path of Christ". As he states in The Perfect Matrimony: "We aspire towards only one thing, only one goal, only one objective: Christification. It is necessary for each human being to Christify himself. It is necessary to incarnate the Christ."

Aun Weor emphasizes that his doctrine is experiential, and must be put into practice for it to be of any value to the student.[31][32] Throughout his works there are hundreds of techniques and exercises that supposedly are of help in the development of psychic powers, for example leaving the dense physical body at will (astral projection),[33] in order to be taught in the schools of the "Higher Worlds."[34] The techniques are always combined with meditation and sexual transmutation, and the perfection of such powers may take more than one lifetime.[35]

It is stated that if a student is successful in awakening consciousness, he or she will eventually experience a continuous state of vigilance not only during the day but also while the physical body is sleeping, and most importantly after death. This is significant because Aun Weor states that those who have a sleeping consciousness are not aware of their postmortem condition, just as they are not aware when they are physically sleeping. The awakening of consciousness allows a student to continue to work regardless of their physical state.[36]

Religions are viewed as idiosyncratic expressions of immutable and eternal values. Religions are said to be born and die in time, yet their spiritual values always remain eternal. When a religious form has fulfilled its mission, it begins to degenerate and dies, then a new messenger appears and delivers a doctrine appropriate for that culture. Different cultures require different doctrines for their development and this results in a vast difference of religious doctrines. Nevertheless, if one understands their core values, all religions naturally support each other.[37][38] It is stated that any authentic religion possess what are called "The Three Factors of the Revolution of the Consciousness"[39] which are practical aspects of daily life:

1) Death: The psychological work of eliminating the ego. 2) Birth: Giving birth to the superior potential of the soul, which is done through chastity and sexual transmutation. 3) Sacrifice: To work to aid suffering humanity "without desiring the fruits of action, without desiring reward; pure, sincere, disinterested sacrifice, giving one’s life in order for others to live, and without asking for anything in return."

Among these 3 factors, Samael Aun Weor highlights that the first one is the most important. A teaching that is missing any one of these components is considered incomplete or degenerate.

The basis of Aun Weor's Practical Work is of a psychological nature. He states in many of his books that the purpose of his doctrine is to affect a psychological change. The terms Gnostic, Esoteric or Revolutionary Psychology are used to describe the psychological methods taught, and are said to be synonymous with the psychological teachings of religion.[40][41]

A fundamental axiom presented is that an ordinary human being is not really human at all, but rather an intellectual animal (a rational animal) with consciousness asleep.[42] According to Samael Aun Weor, a true human being is someone who has no psychological imperfection, an image of God, as in Jesus' saying, "Become perfect as your Father in Heaven is perfect."[43][44] Samael Aun Weor writes of the awakening of consciousness as being very similar to the traditional Buddhist understanding, and throughout his works he describes many analogous processes as they are spoken of in different religions.

In order to awaken the consciousness correctly, Aun Weor stated it was necessary to annihilate the ego. He taught that one’s ego is really not one but many, or a multitude of independent, contradictory desires. Likewise, each person's ego is said to actually contain many "I’s," many "egos," many "aggregates." Each desire is an "I" and each "I" has its own specific causes and conditions that lead to its personification at a particular time.[45] This is the mechanism behind what is commonly called "changing one’s mind" (metanoia) because when one "I" changes to another a literal exchange of personified psychological aggregates has taken place.[46] This "doctrine of the many", the Plural 'I' or Pluralized Ego, is the same as that taught by G.I. Gurdjieff and his disciple P. D. Ouspensky and is one of the reasons Aun Weor was sometimes accused of plagiarism. To this he responded that Gurdjieff was not the author of this doctrine and that its origin is found in Egypt and Tibet.[47][48][49]

Consciousness

Consciousness is described as a state of being, very closely related to God. The consciousness within the normal person is said to be 97% asleep. Consciousness asleep is consciousness that is subconscious, unconscious, or infraconscious, which are various levels of psychological sleep. Psychological sleep is a way to describe the lack of self-awareness, meaning that the common and ordinary person is not aware of 97% of what constitutes the ordinary state of being. A consciousness asleep is caused by what Aun Weor calls identification, fascination, or the incorrect transformation of impressions, which all imply a type of consciousness that is not aware of its own processes. It is said that to awaken consciousness one must understand that his or her consciousness is asleep. This implies that one must begin to understand every impulse, action, thought and movement one makes, a feat that is said to be accomplished through the mental discipline of meditation and self-observation. Furthermore, it is stated that the awakening of consciousness is the only way to acquiring gnosis and achieve a true and radical change by removing the spurious psychological aggregates that cause unnecessary suffering.[50][51] The awakening of consciousness goes hand in hand with the transmutation of sexual energy because the higher states of consciousness depend upon the energy of sexual transmutation.[52]

Psychological aggregates

The purpose of the psychological work is to dissolve all the psychological aggregates one has accumulated. The term "psychological or mystical death" is often used to describe the process one must undergo in order to reach liberation.[53]"Psychological aggregates" are commonly known simply as aggregates in Buddhism, yet it is taught that other religions[54] used a more veiled or less sophisticated method to describe them, such as: the Legion of Satan that Jesus is described as removing from a man in Mark 5 in one of the alleged Miracles of Jesus;[55] overcoming the tortures of the 49 Self-willed demons of Yaldabaoth written in the Pistis Sophia; the killing of the "unbelievers" in Islam; Moses escaping the tyranny of the Egyptians;[56]Arjuna fighting against his own blood (the ego);[57] the demons of Seth[58] that attack Osiris;[59] Jesus throwing the merchants out of the temple;[60] the archetypal death and resurrection of the "Solar Hero" exemplified in the stories of Jesus and Osiris; the descent to Dante's Inferno (representing our unconsciousness) or Paradise Lost'sPandemonium in order to accomplish a great task, such as those performed by Hercules or Orpheus; the archetypal Dragon (ego) that must be slayed by the Knight, etc.[6] Samael Aun Weor states that this specific paradigm is called "The Doctrine of the Many" and has been taught in esoteric schools and religions since the beginning of time.[61] The anatomy of the pluralized self being the divine spark imprisoned within hundreds of psychological aggregates.[52]

In order to achieve psychological transformation, extensive methods of meditation, self-observation, and sexual transmutation are taught and recommended to be practiced on a daily basis.[51] The goal of psychological work is the awakening of consciousness and ultimately the state of Paramarthasatya.[62]

We understand people of normal sexuality to be those who have no sexual conflicts of any kind. Sexual energy is divided into three distinct types. First: the energy having to do with the reproduction of the race and the health of the physical body in general. Second: the energy having to do with the spheres of thought, feeling and will. Third: the energy that is found related with the Divine Spirit of man.

Indeed, sexual energy is without a doubt the most subtle and powerful energy normally produced and transported through the human organism. Everything that a human being is, including the three spheres of thought, feeling and will, is none other than the exact outcome of distinct modifications of sexual energy.[63]

Basic physiology is studied, mostly endocrinology and the hormonal influence of primary and secondary sexual characteristics.[61][64] It is taught that there are three fundamental nervous systems, the cerebrospinal nervous system, grand sympathetic nervous system, and the Parasympathetic nervous system. These nervous systems are referred to as the "Three Brains" or three centers of the intellectual animal, and are named Intellectual Center, the Emotional Center, and the Motor-Instinctual-Sexual Center. Each center is studied in relation to the types of energies or "occult hydrogens" that animate them, the frequency at which each center operates (sexual center being the fastest, then emotional, then intellectual), and how psychological aggregates form and act within each center: psychological aggregates that are expressed through the intellect one way and through the emotions in a different way, etc.[65]

Three Centers and Three Traitors

The three centers are directly related to the Trinity, Trimurti, or threefold-ness of creation, the intellect being related to the Father (Kether, Affirmation, Positive), the emotion related to the Son, (Chokmah, Denial, Negation), and the sexual center related to the Holy Spirit (Binah, Reconcile, Neutral). The primary energy of the intellectual brain (Father) is the air, which is then placed in the bloodstream which is related to the emotional brain (Son), and lastly the final condensation of blood is found in the semen or sexual hormones, which is directly related to the Holy Spirit: that which impregnates or manifests creation, Shakti, etc.[66][67]

Samael Aun Weor teaches that psychological aggregates form in one of these three centers; therefore, it is said that there are three fundamental defects: the demon of the mind related to the intellectual center, the demon of desire related to the emotional center, and the demon of evil will related to the motor-instinctual-sexual center. They are collectively referred to as the "Three Traitors", and many references to religion are found that are held to symbolize them, for example: Judas (desire), Pilate (intellect), and Caiaphas (will) who crucify Jesus; Jubela, Jubelo, and Jubelum who murder Hiram Abiff;[68]Seth, whose homosexual inclinations and actions are well known,[69] in the form of the serpent Apophis and its two monstrous helpers Sebau and Nak[70][71]murders Osiris;[72] the three Furies who attack Orestes; the three daughters of Mara who attack Gautama Buddha and who are conquered through right Thinking (Intellectual Center), right Feeling (Emotional Center), and right Action (Motor-Instinctual-Sexual Center) (see Noble Eightfold Path).[73]

Lunar Bodies and Solar Bodies

Occult or esoteric anatomy and physiology is also studied, which refers to the study of the supra-sensible bodies of minerals, plants, animals (rational and irrational), and human beings. It is said that everyone contains seven bodies, closely related to the Theosophical septenary, which Aun Weor calls physical, vital, emotional (astral), mental, causal, buddhic and atmic.[74] Aun Weor differentiates between an intellectual animal and an authentic human being through the differences in the vehicles of emotion (astral body), mind (mental body) and will (causal body). Intellectual animals (ordinary man and woman) are said to contain the Lunar Astral Body, the Lunar Mental Body, and the Lunar Causal Body, each referred to by different names in different schools of Occultism. It is stated that these lunar bodies are the result of mechanical evolution through the mineral, plant and animal kingdoms and therefore, they are of an infrahuman or animal quality.[75] The only true difference between the rational animal and irrational animals is the intellect, which gives the former the ability to become human, or as Aun Weor states, the intellectual animal has the "seed" or potential of a human latently existing within its sexual organs.[76]

What are called authentic human beings, although physically appearing identical, have crystallized the Solar Bodies: Solar Astral Body, Solar Mental Body, and Solar Causal Body. Lunar bodies are vehicles that receive the energy of creation (that is, God) at the level of an animal, while the solar bodies permit the reception of a much greater voltage allowing greater levels of wisdom and superior emotion to be incarnated. Aun Weor states that the solar bodies are collectively referred to as vehicles of the "soul".[77]

Aun Weor states that the solar bodies are formed in the same manner that physical bodies are formed: through use of the sexual function. In order to form the solar bodies, sexual transmutation is taught via the hetero sexual magic of married couples engaged in coitus without orgasm or seminal ejaculation.[78][79] Sexual magic is the arousal of sexual energies through the act of coitus between husband and wife, but instead of expelling those energies through orgasm they are transmuted into higher octaves of energy.[80][81] Each successive Solar Body is the result of the saturation of transmuted sexual energy at its respective octave: first, the "Christ Astral" is formed by transmuting the sex energy into a second octave; second, the "Christ Mind" is formed by saturating, condensing or crystallizing the sexual energy into a third octave, and the causal body or "Christ Will" is formed by transmuting the sexual energy called "Hydrogen SI-12", into a fourth octave.[82] The "birth" of the solar bodies is what Samael Aun Weor states is the true meaning of being "born again." It is taught that the solar bodies are referred to in the Bible as the three sons of Noah or the three Christians in the (alchemical) furnace of Nebuchadnezzar.[83]

Three Forms of Sexuality

The topic of sexuality is approached from a very stern point of view, and it is indeed the crux of Aun Weor’s entire message. He states that there are three fundamental types of sexuality: suprasexuality, which is the sexual functioning of someone like Buddha or Jesus, who naturally transmutes all their energy perfectly; normal sexuality, which is defined as those who have no sexual conflict of any kind whatsoever and who transmute their sexual energy or use it to procreate the species; finally, the two spheres of infrasexuality, as described in the Kabbalistic texts: Nahemah's sphere of influence which includes fornication, adultery, addiction and prostitution and Lilith's sphere of influence, a category which includes homosexuality, masturbation, abortion, bestiality, sado-masochism and any other "abuse" of the sexual energy.[84] In response to his supposedly harsh views towards sex (especially for a "New Age" teacher), he wrote:

Many hypocritical Pharisees hate us because we are not complaisant with whoredom, because we condemn crime, yet they state that this is why we hate. This is how they imprecisely judge us. What happens is that all of those hypocritical Pharisees from Spiritualism, Theosophism, Rosicrucianism, Aquarianism, etc., yearn for a sanctimonious mastery where masters are complaisant with crime; a type of spiritual whore-master who, complaisant with crime, goes around from lodge to lodge, from school to school, from sect to sect. This is why we, those who truly love humanity, are hated by hypocritical Pharisees.[85]

Soteriology (study of salvation) is presented in the light of every notable religion yet usually with special differences not held by orthodox interpretations. There are many degrees of salvation generally accomplished by paying one’s karma, removing the psychological imperfections and finally creating the solar bodies. The idea held by many religions that belief in God alone achieves salvation is categorically rejected.[62]

Many different levels of salvation are explained, each depending upon the willpower of the individual accomplishing it. For those who do not remove their psychological imperfection (ego) – which is the cause of karma and the suffering of humanity – after approximately 108 rebirths they will have their ego removed forcefully through mechanical devolution within the infradimensions (Hell). Here it is said that "Mother Nature" mechanically pays out one’s accumulated karma through a great deal of suffering over thousands of years until one is returned to the state of an innocent elemental, or Essence. This is said to be a state of being that is total happiness, yet not cognizant happiness and therefore not complete happiness. It should be noted that Hell is not taught as a place of eternal damnation, just a place to pay one’s karma, and in fact it is seen as a part of God's grace because if the ego is not removed forcefully, these souls would continue to suffer indefinitely. It is held that after Hell, the elemental is reinserted into the mechanics of evolution in order to once again attempt to gain conscious happiness: They are first inserted at the basic level of existence (minerals), and through millions of years, transmigrate through increasingly complex organisms until the state of intellectual animal is reached again.[86]

For those who do work on themselves, depending on the degree of perfection, happiness and wisdom they wish to attain, two distinct paths emerge: the Straight Path of the Razor's Edge and the Spiral Path. The Spiral Path involves reaching a state of relative enlightenment by choosing the enjoyment of the Higher Worlds (Heaven or Nirvana), and occasionally returning to a physical body in order to pay out a little more karma and help humanity in the process.[86] Samael Aun Weor refers to these as the Pratyeka Buddhas and Sravakas, and that the vast majority who reach this state choose the Spiral Path because it is very easy and enjoyable. The dangerous Straight Path of the Razor's Edge is the Path of the Bodhisattva who renounces the happiness of the Higher Worlds (Nirvana) in order to help humanity.[87] In the doctrine of Samael Aun Weor, the Bodhisattva has a very specific definition, as it is not merely someone who has taken the Bodhisattva vows. It is the physical (Malkuth), vital (Yesod), astral (Hod), mental (Netzach) and causal (Tiphereth) vehicles – in other words the human soul – of a self-realized spirit, (Geburah-Chesed) who has chosen the Straight Path of the Razor's Edge in order to incarnate the Christ (Kether-Binah-Chokmah). In other words, the Bodhisattva is the "Son" of a self-realized God who is trying to return to the Absolute or 13th Aeon of the Pistis Sophia.[88]

Christology

Christ is viewed as the savior but not as traditionally understood by contemporary Christianity. Instead, Christ is an impersonal force or intelligence that emanates from the Absolute as the Trinity and is also referred to as the Cosmic Christ. Christ is said to have existed before Jesus, and is represented in different traditions with names such as Thoth, Ormuz, Ahura Mazda, Osiris, Zeus, Jupiter, Quetzalcoatl, Okidanokh, Kulkulcan, Chrestos, Baldur, and Avalokitesvara. It is held that Christ enters into and exalts any individual who is properly prepared, which denotes the complete annihilation of the ego, the exhaustion of all karma and the birth of the solar vehicles, the latter is necessary to handle the super high voltage of Christ. Samael Aun Weor writes that only those who choose the previously mentioned Straight Path of the Razor's Edge can incarnate the Christ because the Spiral Path is not a path of total sacrifice. Likewise, any true Bodhisattva has incarnated the Christ or is in process of doing so. It is said that in history Christ incarnated in Jesus, Buddha, Mohammed, Krishna, Moses, Padmasambhava, John the Baptist, Milarepa, Mahavatar Babaji, Joan of Arc, Fu Xi, Ramakrishna as well as many others now forgotten by time (or made up in works of fiction) e. g. Zanoni[89][90][91]

It is important to notice that some of these individuals represent Christ as an impersonal force, e. g. Jesus, meaning that although he was an individual Christ, he taught the doctrine of the Cosmic Christ, intentionally molding his physical life after the psychological processes that one undergoes to incarnate the Christ.[92] As with Buddha, Jesus is seen as a Bodhisattva who came to help humanity. Jesus is viewed as the Savior of the World because he is a Paramarthasatya (an inhabitant of the Absolute) that physically incarnated specifically for the sake of poor suffering humanity. According to Samael Aun Weor, Jesus purposefully played out physically the internal or psychological struggle one must undergo in the path of Self-Realization; thus, the Gospels are a mixture of reality and kabbalistic, initiatic symbolism.[93][94][95] According to Samael Aun Weor, there is the historic Christ as depicted in Christian Churches; then, there is the Christ of Transubstantiation to be known exclusively through the Gnostic Church; and finally, there is the Apocalyptic Christ who is to come with the New Jerusalem, after the Great Cataclysm that will consume the world.[23]

His work Cosmic Teachings of a Lama states that life on Earth did not occur through abiogenesis, but instead through pansperma. To Samael Aun Weor, the theories of abiogenesis are similar to those of spontaneous generation, and that Pasteur had already implicitly refuted the former when the latter was empirically disproved. Furthermore, while evolution is a verified fact of nature, speciation through Darwinianevolution has never been witnessed and is "an absurd theory without basis or foundation."[96] Instead, the sum of zoological variation is determined by the seeds of life traveling throughout space (protected by electromagnetic "whirlwinds") which determine the evolution and devolution of life on any planet. Life, according to Samael Aun Weor, is eternal, however its expression is divided into evolutive and devolutive modes: species evolve, reach a pinnacle, and necessarily devolve and return to a germinal state.

Man, therefore, is not the outcome of the evolution from a common ancestor to the primates, but rather the exponent of an eternal anthropic principle. Monkeys, apes, and other primates are instead the outcome of certain sub-sects of ancient humanity copulating with animals, and are in a complete state of devolution.[97]

They say that the human being comes from the ape. They came out with the theory of the cynocephalus with a tail, the monkey without a tail and the arboreal men, all of them children of the noeptizoids, etc. But, which of these would then be the missing link? On what day have they found a monkey that is capable of speaking, that is gifted with speech? It has not appeared until now. Therefore, these materialistic gentlemen are ludicrous. They only present us suppositions and not facts. Therefore are not the materialists refuting the theories of Darwin himself and his henchmen? Does the human being come from the ape? Upon which basis do they sustain this theory? How do they demonstrate it? Until when are we going to wait for the supposed missing link? We want to see that specie of ape speaking like people. That ape has not appeared, therefore such an ape is only a supposition of nonsense that has no reality.

He does state however that evolution within a species is possible, yet that no species can evolve from another species. Furthermore, he states that the human or 'intellectual animal' naturally evolves in time, for example our society is an evolution from previous societies - however the evolution of species can never achieve spiritual liberation because it will always return to devolution. Spiritual liberation requires a 'revolution of consciousness'.

In many books Samael Aun Weor wrote about the "Final Catastrophe" or Apocalypse.[98] His work The Aquarian Message is a commentary on the Book of Revelation, which affirms the notion that present civilization will end and a future one will emerge. Only those souls who remove their ego in the present time will avoid the Second Death and re-transmigrations. A specific date is never given, only that this civilization is in the twilight of its existence.[23]

Samael Aun Weor wrote about the social problems of society in the books The Social Christ and The Social Transformation of Humanity.[99] The book goes on to explain a solution to the political problems involving a change in everyone's psychology. All political systems, Samael states, are a reflection of our own psychology. In order therefore to deal with such problems, Master Samael Aun Weor formed a political party called 'POSCLA', The Christian Socialist Party of Latin America. The motto of POSCLA was "Live and Let Live".

In his works, Occult Medicine and Practical Magic, Igneous Rose and others, Samael Aun Weor taught about elemental magic. In the former work he expressed his opposition to the medicine of modern science, allopathy, and called for the Gnostics to learn the ways of Indigenous and Elemental Medicine.

Samael Aun Weor taught that all the plants of nature are living Elemental Spirits, similarly to Paracelsus and many other esoteric teachers. He states that it is the Elemental Spirits who cure, not simply the 'cadavers of the plants'. Plants should be treated as living beings, harvested at the proper hours etc. He stated that the Elementals of all plants are aspects of The Divine Mother in the form of Mother Nature. In 'Occult Medicine and Practical Magic' he spoke about the healing methods of the Kogi Mamas, who diagnose sicknesses by means of clairvoyance.[100]

The Roman Catholic Church has labeled Samael Aun Weor's Christian Gnostic Movement as a pseudo-church[101] and some Roman Catholic authors have accused Samael Aun Weor of trying to seduce Roman Catholic priests and nuns to abandon their vows of celibacy and practice the sexual teachings promulgated by the Gnostic Movement; these authors also believe that the current wave to discredit the legitimacy of the Roman Catholic Church comes from the same source[102] while others go so far as to label it heresy.[103]

As of 11 Feb 1984 or thereabouts, the Ministry of Tenerife, Spain, denied incorporation to Samael Aun Weor's Universal Christian Gnostic Church of Spain operating from 38 San Francisco St., in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain, on the grounds that said organization is not a legitimate church as it does not have any record of incorporation as such in any country whatsoever.[104]

In 1990, after numerous consultations with high-ranking members of the Roman Catholic Church and other figures who prefer to remain anonymous such as lawyers, public prosecutors, psychiatrists and psychologists, Pilar Salarrullana who has been a political figure since 1974 and is considered an expert on sects, published Las Sectas (The Sects: a living testament to Messianic terror in Spain) which became a best-seller with six editions the first year alone and in spite of its popularly inquisitorial tone, it denounces the Gnostic Movements among others as some of the most dangerous anti-social plagues in Spain.[105]

In 1991, F. W. Haack (1935–1991), who was chief delegate of the Evangelical Church with responsibility for sects and ideologies, attacked Weor's ideology in a German book published in Zurich — nevertheless the Gnostic branches of the movement in Germany and Switzerland are still active and expanding.[106] The Gnostic associations are active in Switzerland with a moderate following of Italian, French and German speaking members.[107]

Samael Aun Weor wrote over sixty books, covering a broad range of esoteric, philosophical, and anthropological subjects. The following is taken in part from the Bibliography of Samael Aun Weor although a more accurate list may in fact exist in these Writings by date, since the below list clearly shows titles supposedly written after his corporeal death and may in fact simply relate to their English translation from Spanish.

1950 - The Perfect Matrimony, or The Door to Enter into Initiation (Revised and expanded in 1961. See below) ISBN 978-1-934206-68-3

^Samael Aun Weor (2003-01-01) [1971]. "The Seminal Pearl". The Mystery of the Golden Blossom. Glorian Publishing. ISBN0-9742755-2-2. The price of enlightenment is paid with one's own life. In the sacred land of the Vedas, there are Guru-shishya tradition.

^David-Neel, Alexandra (1971-06-01). Magic and Mystery in Tibet. Dover Publications Inc. p. 277. ISBN0-486-22682-4. ...we grow to realize that the self is compound, impermanent; and that the self, as self, does not exist.

^Jean-François Meyer (1993). Les nouvelles voies spirituelles. Editions l'Age d'Homme. p. 126. ISBN978-2-8251-0412-5. The Gnostic associations are active in Switzerland in both German and in the Romance languages.